Chapter 384: Chapter 342: Lair

After testing Wuyin’s power, Anton began to seriously consider how to nurture the little fellow so it could grow up as quickly as possible.

Nurturing Divine Creatures fundamentally required two things: a growth environment and food.

The former went without saying. If Wuyin could soak in an environment perfectly attuned to its nature, resonating with heaven and earth to strengthen itself, its growth speed would undoubtedly soar. The Taichu Spirit Realm’s exceptionally rich Spiritual Qi already made it an ideal environment for a Spirit Beast.

But this was only the foundation; it wasn’t enough on its own.

Anton intended to start with Wuyin’s bloodline traits to custom-build the most suitable nest. Considering Wu Hao mastered the Mist Law, he spent some time consulting the Taoist Jade Scroll and soon formulated an idea. Using the abundant Spiritual Qi of the Taichu Spirit Realm as a base, he could set up a Nested Array. The outer layer would use a Spirit Gathering Array to draw in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, while the inner layer would continuously convert that Spiritual Qi into dense, lingering mist. This would create a nest perpetually shrouded in Spiritual Mist.

This way, Wuyin could enjoy the nourishment of Spiritual Qi while constantly comprehending the operations of the Mist Law.

"It’s a pity that the Mist Law belongs to the Natural Laws and isn’t a derivative branch of Elemental Power," Anton thought. "Otherwise, I could open an Elemental Origin Plane Rift to create an even better nest."

Having planned the nest, Anton turned his thoughts to Wuyin’s diet.

Ordinary beast meat and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were merely enough to fill a Divine Creature’s stomach. To truly stimulate Wuyin’s bloodline potential, he had to customize a specialized Spirit Beast diet based on its racial traits. Simply put, this meant refining Pills using Spiritual Materials with compatible attributes and feeding them to it regularly.

Fortunately, the Taoist Jade Scroll contained a vast number of Spirit Beast Pill Formulas. He only needed to spend a little time filtering out the ones most suitable for Wu Hao. As for the materials required for the Pill Formulas, although precious, they wouldn’t be too difficult to gather given the Silver Moon Race’s current foundation.

It would be enough, at least, to support Wuyin’s growth to the Saint level.

"Once the nest is built and the diet finalized, combined with the environment of the Taichu Spirit Realm itself... it should only take forty or fifty years at most for Wuyin to step into the Saint level."

He glanced down at his feet. At some point, Wuyin had curled up on his boots, the silver-gray tip of its tail resting against its nose, its breathing long and even. Likely exhausted from experiencing a battle shortly after birth, it had simply fallen asleep.

Smiling faintly, Anton kept his feet still. He remained seated at the desk, flipped his wrist, and retrieved a roll of blank talisman paper from his Qiankun Bag. He took up his pen and recorded the array architecture and his ideas for the Pill Formula one by one.

The RUSTLE of the pen tip gliding across the paper echoed softly in the Quiet Chamber, making Wuyin’s steady breathing seem even clearer.

After a moment, he set the pen down and lightly waved his hand through the air. A streak of Spiritual Light escaped his fingertips, transforming into a Paper Crane that flapped its wings and flew out the window.

Wuyin’s nurturing plan would require a considerable mobilization of materials and manpower, but he could leave such trivial matters for Eleanor to arrange. His next priority had to remain focused on comprehending his Sword Dao and Divine Techniques. Before directly facing the Thunder and Fire Tribulation, any slight increase in strength was crucial.

Time quietly slipped away.

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

Summer, Chenxi Calendar Year 9450.

Summer heat steamed from the depths of the earth, wilting the vegetation across the Eldron Plain and infusing even the wind with a dry, scorching breath.

Camp Number One of the Spirit Stone Vein sat on a gentle, hilly slope in the northern heartland of the plain. Viewed from above, grayish-brown mine entrances lined the slope in succession. Thick pine beams propped up the upper edges of the tunnels, casting short, sharp shadows under the blazing sun.

On the western side of the camp, inside a temporary laboratory, Nordwin sat at a long table. He carefully embedded a piece of ore into the groove of an instrument on the desk. The ore was roughly the size of a fist, entirely a warm, milky white. Its surface gleamed with a very faint luster, and its fine texture starkly contrasted with the coarse, dull feel of ordinary rocks. A whole basket of identical stones sat at his feet.

The moment the ore was secured in the groove, Nordwin flipped a copper lever on the side. A low HUM echoed from inside the instrument, and the copper wires began to heat up slightly.

He had designed and assembled this device himself specifically to test Energy Crystals. Its structure wasn’t complicated; the core was a specially treated Sensing Spirit Stone connected to a dial wound with copper wire. Tiny ink dots marked the dial with a scale from one to ten.

Nordwin fixed his gaze on the dial, anticipation gleaming in his eyes.

A moment later, the slender copper needle in the center twitched and finally settled between the "nine" and "ten" marks, nearly touching the maximum boundary. His eyes lit up. He quickly removed the ore, swapped it for another piece, and flicked the copper lever again.

This time, the needle’s resting point almost perfectly overlapped with the previous one, deviating by no more than the width of a hair.

The joy in his eyes deepened. In one breath, he tested the rest of the ore in the basket. Only when he pulled the final stone from the groove did he let out a long breath of stale air, an uncontrollable smile breaking across his face.

"All the ores have met the Spirit Stone standards. The Spirit Stone Vein’s transformation is completely finished." Nordwin’s face brimmed with intense delight.

Although Sensing Spirit Stones were highly useful, they were ultimately artificial energy carriers. Limited by materials and craftsmanship, their energy output was always unstable, and their quality varied greatly. In contrast, these newly mined Spirit Stones from the successfully transformed vein far exceeded Sensing Spirit Stones in both energy concentration and quality. Their internal structure was perfectly unified, offering transmission efficiency and stability that artificial stones couldn’t hope to match.

From this day forward, the Silver Moon Race finally possessed its own stable, natural source of Spirit Stones.

It took quite a while for Nordwin to recover from his joy and leave the laboratory. Three disciples from different Vassal Races were waiting outside. Seeing him emerge, they immediately approached.

"How did it go?" one of them asked impatiently.

Nordwin smiled and nodded. "A complete success. Every Spirit Stone meets the standard."

Hearing this, all three disciples excitedly pumped their fists. Like Nordwin, they had relied on inventions and creations to accumulate Contribution Points, earning their promotion to become Taichu City disciples. However, in recent years, limited by the insufficient output and low quality of Spirit Stones, they had been unable to achieve higher breakthroughs in Spirit Stone Technology. Now that they had an abundant supply, their future research would undoubtedly proceed much more smoothly.

"You guys organize these ores first and register them into the treasury," Nordwin said, taking out a Sound Transmission Talisman. "I need to report this to Senior Sister Fu Luo."

The three disciples quickly agreed, their faces carrying irrepressible joy.

Ninefold Celestial Tower, Celestial Essence Hall.

After listening to Furlo’s report, a faint smile appeared on Eleanor’s face. "It has been nearly ninety years since the Spirit Stone Vein began its transformation. It has finally succeeded."

Furlo smiled. "It’s all thanks to the Clan Leader’s array and Elemental Origin Crystals. Otherwise, it would have taken at least a few centuries to succeed."

Eleanor smiled and nodded. "Arrange the manpower. Starting today, officially commence mining operations at Vein Number One."

"Yes," Furlo agreed solemnly.

Eleanor looked at the inspection report Nordwin had submitted on the desk, a thoughtful look entering her eyes. She understood better than anyone what the appearance of this batch of Spirit Stones meant for the Clan.

While Sensing Spirit Stones were useful, they always suffered from an unavoidable problem: the refining process was tedious, the quality was constrained by materials and techniques, and the production volume simply couldn’t be scaled up to meet the Clan’s rapidly expanding needs.

The Spirit Stones from the vein were entirely different. They were naturally formed, high-concentration energy carriers. Once mined, they could be directly used to refine magical treasures, draw talismans, and power Daoist Soldiers. Their uniform and stable quality provided an efficiency that vastly outstripped artificially refined Sensing Spirit Stones. And the enhanced efficiency of these products would, in turn, boost the Clan’s overall strength.

It was entirely predictable that once a new batch of equipment and talismans refined with natural Spirit Stones replaced the old gear in the military, the army’s combat power would inevitably surge. The significance to the Clan was self-evident.

However, the production of Sensing Spirit Stones couldn’t be halted. Though inferior to natural Spirit Stones, they were sufficient to meet most demands in the civilian and industrial sectors. Especially for machinery that didn’t require high energy density, Sensing Spirit Stones were perfectly adequate; there was no need to waste natural ones.

Thinking of Spirit Stone Technology, Eleanor turned back to Furlo. "Pass down the orders. We can start pushing forward with the previous improvement plans for Spirit Stone Technology... but for now, all technological applications are to be promoted strictly within the Clan."

"Yes, Lady Eleanor." Furlo naturally understood Eleanor’s underlying implication.

Spirit Stone Technology was the Clan’s core craft. Until higher-level technologies emerged, none of the application products of Spirit Stone Technology could be allowed to leak outside. This was especially true during the current sensitive period. One misstep, and they might end up arming their enemies.

"What is the current transformation progress of the five veins located in the Green Highlands, the Thundering River Basin, and the Nine Nether City Domain?" Eleanor asked.

Furlo, having come prepared, answered immediately. "None of those five veins are within the radiation range of the Earth Vein Nodes, so their transformation speed is much slower than Vein Number One. At the most optimistic estimate, it will take another seventy to eighty years for them to fully form."

Eleanor gave a slight nod, not pressing the matter further. After all, the environments in those areas were far inferior to the uniquely blessed Taichu Spirit Realm, so a slower transformation rate was normal.

But it didn’t matter. Spirit Stone Technology was only just taking off, so the immediate demand for Spirit Stones wasn’t astronomical. The output from Vein Number One, combined with the Sensing Spirit Stones, would be more than enough to cope. By the time Spirit Stone Technology entered its explosive growth phase, the other five veins should also be fully transformed. At that point, Spirit Stone production would experience a massive boom, easily covering the Clan’s needs.

"Right, Lady Eleanor," Furlo suddenly remembered something and asked, "Should we report this matter to Lord Anton?"

"No." Eleanor shook her head. "The Nine Dragon Divine Fire Shield has just recently been promoted to a Spiritual Artifact, and the Clan Leader has already entered seclusion to make final preparations for his breakthrough. Do not disturb him at a time like this."

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